Emails are forever: embarrassing press emails to South Carolina Governor's Staff
Emails allow an increased level of public access to government decision-making because many issues are resolved in email exchanges that 20 years ago would have been addressed in person or over the phone. These same emails, however, sometimes reveal embarrassing information. Example A: the scandal related to South Carolina Governor Sanford's affair. For more see the posts on the Death by Email blog.
Not surprisingly, the newspaper that broke the story, the State, has made an extensive public records requests to the Governor's office. What is surprising, however, is that some of the more recent embarrassing emails show media outlets pledging support for the governor when the stories first broke that he had gone missing: Great Call: In Emails To Sanford's Office, Right-Wing Media Dismissed Missing Gov Story
It's not uncommon for members of the public unaware of the scope of the public records laws, to be embarrassed when their email to their elected official is made public. But this is the first example I've seen of the media being embarrassed because they forgot about the public records laws.
